Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to an accessory capable of communicating with an imaging apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Accessories (hereinafter also referred to as accessory devices) such as lens apparatuses that are detachably mountable to an imaging apparatus operate by receiving supply of power source from the imaging apparatus, communicating with the imaging apparatus, and so forth. Accordingly, multiple electric contacts are provided both on a mount unit at the imaging apparatus and a mount unit at the accessory device. When an accessory device is mounted to the imaging apparatus, the electric contacts at the imaging apparatus side and the electric contacts at the accessory device side come into contact, and the imaging apparatus and the accessory device are electrically connected.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,379 discloses an imaging apparatus where the number of times of contact between electric contacts when attaching/detaching the accessory device is reduced by providing steps on a contact table holding multiple electric contacts. Accordingly, the amount of wear of the electric contacts can be reduced.
As imaging apparatuses and accessory devices increase in functionality, the amount of data being exchanged between imaging apparatuses and accessory devices by communication is increasing. Increasing the number of electric contacts used for communication is effective in increasing the speed of exchanging great amounts of data.
However, increasing the number of electric contacts increases the number of times that the electric contacts come into contact with each other when attaching/detaching the accessory increases. Accordingly, there is concern that simply providing steps on the contact table as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,379 may be insufficient in reducing the amount of wear of the electric contacts.
It has been found desirable to provide an accessory device capable of reducing the amount of wear of the electric contacts of the imaging apparatus.